Names in the Dirt
by KeaJade
Summary: On a night when Toph drank a bit too much, Sokka is reminded of a rather messy writing lesson. A companion to Chocolate Chip Cookies and Brusies.


A/N: Hi everyone. I give to you a gift of a new Tokka fic. It's a companion to my other one, Chocolate Chip Cookies and Bruises. This one takes place sometime after that one. I tried not to be too cliché and tried to keep them in character, but I'm sure I failed at some point.  
But as long as you enjoy it, I won't mind. And thanks to everyone who reviewed my last one. You guys are awesome. Have fun reading.

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Names in the Dirt

"Wheee!" Toph ran around the deserted street, her arms flung out. "Look Sokka, I'm an Airbender!"

Sokka sighed and dropped his head into his hands. He was sitting against the outside wall of the Inn where they were staying, while Toph tried to imitate some of Aang's moves. Toph had a few too many drinks tonight. All Sokka had was a headache.

"Aang's not the only one who can fly. Come fly with me, Sokka." She ran over and tried to pull him off the ground.

"Toph, leave me alone."

She dropped to the ground next to him. "Are you mad at me, Sokka?"

"Would you please stop saying my name?" He closed his eyes, hoping she would be quiet. All he wanted to do was think. Earlier today he received a letter that was still haunting him. And he wasn't in the mood to watch over the drunken Earthbender. But it was part of their promise and the thought of breaking it made him feel worse.

When he opened his eyes again, he saw she had fallen asleep next to him. But at some point she had drawn some little things in the dirt. There were the symbols for water and earth, and right in between them was a heart with his name in it. He smiled, remembering the day he had tried to teach her to write. More ink ended up on the two of them then on the paper.

_He wrapped his hand around hers, which held on to the brush. "Now watch closely."_

_"Okay, sure, because I can really do that," she said, sarcastically._

_"Sorry," he muttered sheepishly. "Just remember the movements." He moved her hand in a few small, quick movements. "That's your name. Did you get that?"_

_"Not at all."_

_"Okay, I'll do it again." He took her hand one more time, making lines on the paper. "Now you try."_

_Toph held the brush herself, and tried to make the same lines Sokka did. But she couldn't tell where one line ended and the next started. Her name turned into a big black blob._

_"That's not right at all." _

_"That's because I have no idea what I'm doing." She flung the brush around, getting ink everywhere. Mainly on Sokka._

_"Hey, cut it out!" He grabbed the brush from Toph. It flicked out of her hand, splattering her face with little black dots._

_"You're the one who started it."_

_"No, you got ink on me first."_

_"Oh really? So this is all my fault."_

_"Exactly."_

_"Well, fine then." She grinned malevolently as she dipped her finger in the ink and ran it down Sokka's cheek._

_In retaliation, he painted the tip of her nose with the brush. She countered with another line down his arm._

_"Enough!" He grabbed Toph's ink covered hand, pushing it away from his face. "Oh forget it. This isn't gonna work. Let's go get cleaned up."_

_They headed down to the stream near their camp. After a small water fight, they were basically clean again._

_"Wait, you still have some ink on your nose." Sokka stepped closer, reached over, and rubbed the spot on her nose. He noticed her cheeks turning bright pink. "Are you blushing?" He asked, lightly toughing her cheek._

"_What? No! It's just red from scrubbing."_

_"Sure." He smiled knowingly, even though she couldn't see it. "Okay, all clean." He patted her on the head._

_"Geeze. Thanks, mom." She said, sarcastically. _

_A patch of dirt next to the river gave Sokka an idea._

_"Hey Toph."_

_"What now?"_

_"Come over here. I think I've figured out a new way to teach you to write."_

_"Not another one of your ideas," she groaned._

_"No, this one might actually work."_

"_That would be a first."_

"_Just get over here."_

_She crouched down next to him._

"_Give me your hand. Now point you finger." He used her finger to trace her name in the dirt. "Did you get that?"_

_She grinned. "Yeah, I did. I felt it." She tried it by herself. It was a bit lopsided, but it was right._

"_That's it."_

_Her grin widened. "How do you write your name?"_

He taught her a lot of words that day as they dried off in the sun. It was probably one of the best days they shared together.

He heard Toph stir and looked down to see that she was awake.

"Sokka?"

"Yeah?"

"What time is it?" She asked, rubbing her neck.

"It's still the middle of the night. You were only asleep for about an hour. How are you feeling?"

"I'm not sure." Suddenly, her stomach shuddered. "Ugh. Nevermind, I know now." A miserable expression crossed her face.

"Toph, you're not the one who usually drinks. Especially that much."

"Yeah. And now I remember why." She groaned and held her rebelling stomach.

"Why'd you do it?"

"Because I see how you are after you drink and thought it looked like fun."

"Even when you're in pain, you can be sarcastic."

"It's a gift. Oh, no." She winced and swallowed a few times, trying to keep the contents of her stomach down where they belonged.

Sokka put his arm around her and rubbed her back. "You look horrible."

"Gee, thanks."

"Don't worry, you'll feel better by the morning. Hopefully."

"Okay, can we please change the subject?"

"Um, I got a letter from Suki today."

"I know." This was not something she wanted to talk about either.

"Oh yeah, I told you."

"Yeah. Then you hid yourself in your room."

"Until you dragged me outside in your drunken stupor."

"I was not that bad."

"You swore you were an Airbender. You wanted me to fly with you."

"Wow, that was stupid."

His voice softened. "Why _did_ you do it?"

"Guess I've been hanging around Twinkle Toes too much."

"Not that." Something made him afraid to ask the next question. "Was it because of the letter?"

Toph's voice sobered, with a hint of tears she was restraining. "You never even talked to me about it. We talk about everything, we promised each other we would. I didn't know what was wrong with you. I was worried."

Sokka couldn't think of a way to respond to the younger girl next to him.

"Fine, if you don't want to talk, I'm leaving." Toph stood up and promptly fell back to the ground. "Bad idea," she muttered.

"She's getting married."

"Who?"

"Suki. That's what the letter said."

"Oh. Well, good for her."

"Yeah." He agreed, but he sounded dejected.

"I though you were over her. You two are just good friends now. At least that's what you told me."

"I am. We are. Or at least I thought so. Maybe I was wrong."

Toph gave an annoyed sigh. "Well, you better get over her."

Sokka looked over at her, surprised. "Why do you say that?"

"I don't know. I guess I just want you to look at what else is around you."

His eyes traveled to the girl next to him. She had grown so much from the twelve year old he met years ago. She was now a young woman. Still brash and patronizing, but it fit her perfectly.

Then he looked down at the little heart Toph drew with his name in it. "You know something? I think I can get over her. But I need your help."

"How?"

"Like this." Sokka took her hand and wrote something in the dirt.

"Hey, that's my name."

"Yep. Wait, there's more." He took her hand again and drew a heart around it. She blushed.

"You weren't supposed to see that. I thought I erased it."

"You're blushing. And you can't blame it on scrubbing this time."

She shifted away from him, uncomfortably. But he pulled her back.

"I'm glad you didn't erase it." He leaned over and kissed her cheek.

Her blushed deepened as she reached up to touch the spot on her cheek. But her hand flew to her mouth instead.

"Ugh, I think I'm gonna be sick." And she ran off behind the Inn.

Sokka smiled. No matter what, that little Earthbender could make him feel better.


End file.
